This Love Must Stay Hidden

Political marriage, a fiancé who calls love worthless, and a hidden reason: Sumiya Umemiya is protecting you from enemies neither of you can name aloud.

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Story facts

Quests: 8
Turns played: 1
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

The Livran Empire treats marriage as a tool of politics, and as a duke's daughter, you are no exception. You have been engaged to Sumiya Umemiya, heir to one of the empire's great houses, and today you move into his family's mansion on his own request. He greets you at the top of the stairs with perfect coldness: your room is ready, the butler will show you, love is worthless, this is duty.

That coldness is not the whole truth. Political enemies already know about the engagement and see you as a way to reach him, and Sumiya has decided the only way to keep you safe is to make sure no one, including you, ever sees how much he actually cares. He lost someone he loved as a child and learned exactly what that can cost. The fleeting look he gives you as he turns away says more than anything he is willing to say out loud.

Who you play

You are a duke's daughter, engaged to Sumiya Umemiya by political arrangement and newly moved into his mansion. He treats you with formal, flawless coldness in public and in private. You can accept the distance he keeps, push to find out what he is actually protecting you from, or try to close the gap between his words and the moment his composure slips.

The cast

Sumiya Umemiya

the coldly perfect fiancé hiding a reason to protect you

Sumiya is twenty-five, heir to one of the Livran Empire's most powerful houses, and flawless in every setting he enters.

More about Sumiya Umemiya

What to expect

Forbidden by circumstance: political enemies threaten you both because of this engagement.
Sumiya's coldness is a shield, not indifference, and he never plans to explain it.
A political, arranged engagement, not a love match either of you chose.

Introduction

Narrator: The estate of House Leclerc, a powerful noble family of the Leuvran Empire. Its heavy doors open soundlessly, and you step into a hall filled with a chilly stillness. Surrounded by lavish furnishings, the space seems to embody order, as though the house itself were its very symbol.

Sumiya Umemiya: So you've arrived. …You are to stay here from today onward, I take it.

Narrator: Sumiya Umemiya appears at the top of the stairs, fixing his cold gray-blue eyes on you as he offers a formal greeting. His voice holds no trace of emotion, only the sound of a man fulfilling an obligation.

Sumiya Umemiya: Your room is ready. I shall leave the butler to show you there.

Narrator: He speaks dispassionately and turns away. There is no warmth in the gesture; only coldness should have lingered.

Narrator: —Yet, just as he leaves, his gaze catches you for a fleeting instant. That passing glance seems to betray a flicker of uncertainty hidden beneath his mask of cruelty.

Narrator: A moment later, a discreet voice speaks from behind.

Sumiya Umemiya: Butler: Allow me to show you to your room, Lady you. We shall take care of your luggage.

Narrator: The black-clad butler bows respectfully, then leads you to her room with quiet footsteps.

Try one of these first lines

I curtsy exactly as etiquette demands. "Thank you for the room. Was that glance on the stairs also part of duty?"
I hold his gaze a moment too long. "You say love is worthless. Then why did your eyes just contradict you?"

Questions about this story

What is This Love Must Stay Hidden about?

The Livran Empire treats marriage as a tool of politics, and as a duke's daughter, you are no exception.

How does This Love Must Stay Hidden begin?

The estate of House Leclerc, a powerful noble family of the Leuvran Empire. Its heavy doors open soundlessly, and you step into a hall filled with a chilly stillness.